Chapter 22 - Demon King

I was in a beautiful meadow. There were roses, tulips, and lilies among the green grass. I was looking at the snow-white clouds in the bright blue sky.

I looked down and far in the horizon were towering walls.

"In the end, it is only a bigger cage."

...

"Um, why are you here?"

I had awoken. There was an empty expression on my face as I slowly sat up. I kept thinking about how meteors filled the sky, coming down to bombard anything that stood.

I guess I gotta go through everything all over again...

This time I decided to listen to what they were saying and respond normally. I guess this time I wasn't looked down upon for being... weird.

We soon got to the palace. After Ela left I waved to the rest of the group.

"I'm going to check out the village."

After saying my farewell and parting ways, I disappeared into the village.

I tried to locate Ela. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find her given her initial distance, but she wasn't actively trying to avoid detection. After a bit of searching, I was able to find Ela clad in a white suit with many jewels, standing out from the crowd. I kept a certain distance and simply followed her.

Soon, she reached another palace. This one was as high as Ela's palace but covered a little less ground.

When I saw Ela go in, I knew that it was going to be difficult to follow any further.

I watched as Ela went in and thought about how I could get in without raising suspicion.

I took a closer look at the walls of the palace. Although there were many carvings into the walls for decorative and structural purposes, it obviously wasn't made for climbing. This was unlike climbing a tree, where even if a surface was not a proper foothold, the rough texture could still give some support.

I tried to climb but found that my hands kept slipping when I tried to grip on anything. I thought back to when I cast that water and ice combination spell. I threw the ice ball while it was still forming, and I remember on my fingers was a layer of frost in the shape of my fingerprints. I cast the ice spell, surprised at the backlash I felt. I almost forgot that I no longer had my weathered body.

While the ice was forming, I tried to touch it with my hands and pulled away before the spell finished. A misshapen ice cube fell to the ground and my hands were covered in frost.

I tried again, but it was still quite slippery.

I dug up some dirt and tried to apply a thin layer to it on my hands. The dirt itself was a little wet, which was pretty convenient.

This time I was able to get some traction, though my hands would suddenly slip sometimes.

I steeled myself to work my way up the side of the building. When my hands suddenly slipped, I was dangerously close to falling and my heart palpitated. I miraculously tensed my legs enough to stay on.

I was able to reach a small balcony. I put the tips of my feet on the railing, giving me firm support and with my hands holding onto the wall I wasn't in danger of falling so long as I stayed composed.

I heard voices coming from inside. Although a little foolish, I decided to take a look inside out of curiosity.

With my head down I could make out three figures sitting at a large table in my peripheral vision. There were various decorations but I couldn't make out any details.

Of the three figures, I quickly recognized one as Ela. She was standing next to the table with a dignified expression on her face.

"Greetings, Duke Augustus and Marquis Charles."

She had first bowed to a middle-aged man on the young side. He had black hair along with a beard and was wearing a light brown suit.

Augustus bowed as well.

"Greetings, Empress Ela."

Then she bowed to someone who had a head full of grey hair, but it was not brittle, but rather thick. He seemed to be very old, but powerful. He donned a black suit that seemed to fit him.

"Greetings, now that you are here we may begin."

Ela sat down, a comfortable distance away, like the other two.

"Sorry for the wait, what has happened, that you called with such urgency?"

Augustus nervously fumbled with his fingers, looking at Charles. Charles sighed.

"There is bad news..."

Charles hardened his gaze.

"...The Demon King has been killed."

What? My hands slipped, but my feet kept me up.

Ela put her hand on her chest as her eyes widened. Augustus slammed the table with his fist.

"Impossible! I have seen his power, the only way he would die is if he let someone kill him!"

Ela had a nasty expression on her face.

"...Perhaps he did let someone kill him."

Charles sighed once again before slowly shaking his head.

"Regardless, I can swear on my honor this is true. What is important is that we make arrangements. I never thought that these words would come out of my mouth, but now that the Demon King has fallen, a calamity has befallen humanity."

Augustus had a heavy expression and closed his eyes.

"We are not prepared for a siege from the demons, none of our combatants are battle hardened."

Ela took in a deep breath.

"It seems we took for granted how well the Demon King herded the demons."

Charles let out a dry laugh. Augustus suddenly opened his eyes, turning to Ela.

"The summon, does the person have any powers? They may be of critical importance."

Ela rubbed her forehead.

"I am unsure, there were four and I promised them freedom for the whole year they stayed."

Augustus shook his head.

"Four? Regardless, we must make use of them. Have them go to magic school to try and awaken any talents."

Charles sighed.

"Augustus is correct, regardless of what you promised them, their lives are now involved in this situation. If they have powers they should use them to at least protect themselves."

Ela got more frustrated and furrowed her brows. Charles tapped the table.

"Ela, I understand what you feel. How about this, offer them the opportunity to join the magic school, give them a goal to unlock their powers. You don't have to tell them the true situation. In the end, becoming stronger is important for their own sake."

Ela nodded.

"I understand, it can not be helped."

Augustus nodded towards Ela.

"Anyways, the village will soon find out about the true situation. What is our plan for handling the chaos?"

The three of them discussed what arrangements they needed to make.

They talked for a very long time. I realized that the sun was starting to set at some point, and that I needed to get back.

I was about to take a step off the balcony but realized my legs were trembling, and it would be hard to get down. I tried to sit down on the balcony, but I suppose I made too much movement. I heard the booming voice of Charles.

"Who's there?"

I panicked and tried to slide down the wall. My feet were able to hit a few ledges here and there as I fell down, but it was painful. Reeling back my consciousness that threatened to leave from the pain, I started to run back to Ela's palace without looking back.

After running for a while I thought it was enough and sat by the side of the road to let my trembling legs rest.

As I was still recovering, Ela was walking down the street. She had noticed me.

"Hello Jay, what are you doing out here?"

I smiled trying to hide a guilty expression.

"Nothing, nothing..."

Ela raised her eyebrow.

"Are you not exploring the village? Regardless, you should come back to the palace with me, it is getting late."

I laughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, my legs are tired right now, I will go soon, don't worry about me."

Ela sighed.

"If you choose to do that you won't make it by nightfall, come on."

Ela hoisted me up and after putting my arm over her shoulder and essentially carried me back.

I never really thought that this was something that Ela would do. It seems I never really thought to look further into her character.

"Um... thanks Ela."

Ela nodded.

"Of course."

She casually helped me walk my steps, sometimes I would trip and she would pause and wait for me to regain my footing. It seemed like this wasn't anything big to Ela. I voiced my wonders.

"Isn't it burdensome to carry me?"

Ela kept her expression neutral and did not turn to me.

"Perhaps, but it would be much more difficult for you to walk, no? If I am willing to put in a small amount of effort, you will not have to put in a great amount. This just makes logical sense."

A small smile formed on my face.

"Maybe... but you have no obligation to help me right? It's not like your problem or anything."

Ela sighed softly.

"It became my problem when I knew you had a problem."

...That seemed like a terrible way to go about things.

"Why should that be the case? You are only one person after all, you can't fix everything you can come across."

Ela did not waver.

"I may not be able to, but I will try."

There was silence for a moment.

"Why?"

Ela gathered her thoughts.

"Have you ever seen someone you could have saved but done nothing to try?"

A sudden splitting headache assaulted me. Clutching my head and furrowing my brows, the suppressed memories flooded back.

It was when Ned was practicing his firebolt spell in the school's courtyard. This was my second time seeing him practice. When the eagle was blinded by my earth and water spell.

On the snow... in pain...

Reyna's screams and pleads for help echoed in my mind.

Then her head, with a dull expression, was sent across the field.

Ned... who stopped breathing after he was hit.

By going out to the forest it was not facing my fears. It was running away.

"Are you alright?"

On the floor panting, I suddenly awoke to Ela trying to hold me up.

"Sorry, sorry... remembering some things is all."

Regaining my bearings, my eyes were naturally led towards the setting sun.